“Dame is on his knees” – so the General Director of the theater Stephane Lissner in an interview with the newspaper Le Monde described the devastating effect that the pandemic COVID-2019 had on the most famous Opera house in France. The performances on both stages of the Paris Opera was canceled on March 13, and in the midst of a pandemic, all efforts of the theatre were sent to combat coronavirus: in particular, costume the group from the beginning of April was engaged in the production of protective medical masks. Because of the full stop of the cultural life of the theater was in shambles, having lost more than forty million euros, while sponsorship fees fell by a third. The situation was compounded by strikes against pension reform, which began even before the pandemic.
Despite all the difficulties, the Paris Opera is planning to gradually return to normal. 13 and 14 July at the Opera Garnier, took place the gala-concert dedicated to the doctors, who in the most difficult period of the pandemic with heroism defended human life. Performed by soprano Julie Fuchs and baritone Stephen Degu has performed excerpts from Mozart’s Opera “Figaro’s Wedding”, and the Paris Opera orchestra under Philippe Jordan has performed symphonic works of Richard Strauss, Duke Field and other famous composers. The Opera season the historic Paris Opera will start only by early 2021, after the repair work, which the theater announced in early June.
At the opéra Bastille musical life resumed much earlier. From September 15 to two or three times a week there will be chamber concerts, and the first full-scale Opera production will be Verdi’s “La Traviata” in a version by Australian Director Simon stone: its premiere is scheduled for November 24.
Live music will be back soon for other Opera of France, which is experiencing difficult times: in General, according to experts, museums and theaters across the country lost more than 22 billion euros. Lyon Opera will open in September with a series of concerts with the symbolic title “the Prelude”: the program includes vocal and instrumental works of Mahler, Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Schubert and many others. The first full-fledged Opera, which will be shown on the Lyons stage will be “the Spanish hour” by Ravel, followed by “Werther” by Massenet in concert. Another well-known French theater Capitole in Toulouse, will present at the end of September production of Mozart’s Opera “So tutte”, although originally the season was scheduled to begin another Opera “the pearl fishers” by Bizet.
